Karl Malone doesn’t like to sugarcoat anything. He’s a straight shooter and he’ll tell it like it is. So, when given an opportunity to talk about the sudden resignation of Jerry Sloan as coach of the Utah Jazz, the Jazz’s all-time leading scorer got some things off his chest and offered his support to his former coach.
“I just want to throw some things out there. I know Coach Sloan. We can call it resigning, quitting, whatever you want to call it. The man I know never quit anything. And Phil Johnson [Sloan's assistant] never quit anything. So it had to be a lot worse than what anybody is saying,” Malone said on NBATV’s Game Time on Friday.
“I know this guy. This guy wouldn’t quit anything,” Malone added. “He’s challenged me in the huddle before. He said, ‘I’ll fight you as long as I could see you.’ That’s Coach Sloan, and that’s his attitude.”
Malone is a loyal guy to the core, so it is no surprise that he’s got his longtime mentor’s back. Malone and Sloan may have had their differences over the years, but it never went so far that it destroyed their friendship and trust in one another. “It don’t matter if we had Coach John Wooden; the players as a whole have to buy into the system,” Malone said. “That’s the whole issue here.”
The issue Malone is referring to is the reported rift between Sloan and All-Star guard Deron Williams. The situation boiled over earlier in the week when Sloan and Williams were involved in a heated confrontation which may (or not) have led to Sloan’s resignation.
Malone says he’d like to carry on Sloan’s tradition, but he has a young son who is playing football and he wants to spend time with him. However, if given an opportunity to become a head coach some day, Malone admitted it’s a challenge he’d love to test. “That’s definitely something I want to do. It’s something I feel strongly about and I’ll have some opportunities, I’m sure. I owe that to Coach Sloan because of what he taught me,” said Malone, who promises he won’t be bringing donuts and roses to practice.
Karl Malone announced his retirement from the NBA on Feb. 13, 2005 in Salt Lake City, a place he called home for 18 seasons. (REUTERS)
When the 1992 Dream Team took time off to visit golf courses in Barcelona, almost everyone on the team was itching to bust out their golf clubs out and take their cuts. Karl Malone saw the well-manicured greens, uninviting bunkers and deep roughs, and called it a “waste of pasture.”
Karl Malone was a different breed of athlete. For one, he’s a stand-up guy whose loyalty is admirable. He prefers Harleys over Ducatis; monster trucks over Escalades; 18-wheelers over Rolls Royces. “Growing up, I was always fascinated by equipment,” he said.
He also enjoys riding horses and, when he’s not sporting a baseball cap, he dons a cowboy hat. He wears T-shirts and jeans to work, and probably doesn’t own a tuxedo. The last time he got dressed up for an occasion was at the 1985 NBA Draft in New York. Remember that fashion debacle? After David Stern called Malone’s name with the 13th overall selection, the Louisiana Tech stud walked to the stage wearing white pants, white shirt, a blue coat and tie that looked like it was purchased at Toys R Us.
Somewhere on the red carpet, Joan and Melissa Rivers are having a heart attack after seeing Malone’s fashion faux pas. He just looked real uncomfortable and probably couldn’t wait to rip that tie off his neck, cut off his sleeves and pop a cold one in the green room. You know it crossed his mind.
Malone may have been a pro basketball player, but he’s more of a Big Country than City Slicker. He loves the great outdoors. He owns a cabin in Kenai, Alaska, where he goes fishing and hunting with family and friends. “I just like to kick back and just enjoy life,” Malone said. “We grew up hunting and fishing in Louisiana. When I come here [Alaska], it’s not just about fishing. It’s about relaxing and getting your mind right. When I come here, I forget who I am. We don’t talk about sports.”
If Malone were cast in a Hollywood western movie, he would fit in like a glove. Wait a minute! I believe we have evidence of Malone, the actor, in a western flick. He played Elijah Abel in the 1994 movie “Rockwell.” See photo below:
Can you guess the guy on the right? If you said "Karl Malone" you just earned your spurs.
Born and raised in Summerfield, La., Karl Anthony Malone knew only one way to get things – through hard work. He earned every thing he got in life, which sums up his incredible basketball career that is about to be permanently highlighted in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.
The man hardly took shortcuts, possessing a work ethic that is second to none. He is self-man professional athlete who accomplished basically everything needed to be accomplished in the game of basketball, except for winning a championship. But even though he never won an NBA title, he never allowed that void in his basketball life to define him.
But title or no title, the man known as The Mailman delivered one powerful NBA career.
At 6 feet 9 and 260 pounds, Malone was the ideal power forward; a pioneer of the position. If you look up “power forward” in the NBA dictionary, it will say SEE KARL MALONE.
Malone was a physical marvel. Built like a superhero and blessed with a motor that always pushed forward, he demoralized opponents with his brute strength and relentless nature. In 18 years with the Utah Jazz, he led the franchise to two NBA Finals appearances and won two regular-season MVP awards (1997 and 1999). In 1,476 games, he scored 36,928 points – second only to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Malone was also dependable. From 1985 to 2003, he missed only 10 games. He was a real basketball iron man.
But Malone had plenty of help in Utah.
John Stockton, the NBA’s all-time leader in assists and steals, made sure The Mailman always delivered on game days. The two formed one of the best 1-2 combos in league history.
Stockton to Malone!
Whenever legendary Jazz play-by-play announcer “Hot Rod” Hundley said those words it was like sweet music to Jazz fans and basketball fanatics in the entire state of Utah. Without Stockton and Malone, there would be no Delta Center in Salt Lake City (or Energy Solutions Arena).
Stockton and Malone played 1,412 games together and are immortalized outside of Energy Solutions Arena with bronze statues and an intersection in Salt Lake bears their names.
“We’re sorta like Siamese twins,” Malone said of his good friend John. “I look at him and I was warriors, and we go out and fight battles. There’s no doubt in my mind what he’s thinking and I don’t think there’s any doubt on his mind what I’m thinking when we go on that court, and that’s to win.
“When we’re gone from the game of basketball, when you mention one you gotta mention the other one. If we happen to go to the Hall of Fame one day they’ll probably get us both there together.”
Well, almost.
Stockton was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009, along with Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. “We’ve won and lost a lot of games together. We’ve been through a lot together,” Stockton said of his good friend Karl.
Malone left Utah in 2003 to join Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Gary Payton in Los Angeles, hoping for a Hollywood ending to his storied basketball career. The Lakers reached the 2004 NBA Finals, but lost in five games to the Detroit Pistons. Malone hobbled off the court one final time and never looked back.
That’s not the way a heroic cowboy would ride off to the sunset.
He could have played another season with the Lakers, but decided to retire. Now, depending on who you talk to, there are varying reports on why Malone retired. Here’s one explanation: Vanessa Bryant, Kobe’s Bryant’s wife, had a reported run-in with Malone. In a story published in the L.A. Times in 2004, Vanessa jokingly asked Malone “Hey, cowboy, what are you hunting?” in reference to Malone’s hat and boots. Malone reportedly responded with, “I’m hunting for little Mexican girls.” That last comment infuriated Vanessa, and she told Kobe about it. Kobe confronted Malone about the incident and it caused a major rift between the two.
Whether or not Kobe had something to do with Malone not returning to the Lakers remains unproven. The bottom line is Malone went to L.A. to give it one more shot at winning that elusive title, but fell short.
However, on Aug. 13, 2010, Malone will finally get his title. It will say “Karl Malone, basketball Hall-of-Famer.”
LeBron James has failed twice in the NBA Finals. (GETTY IMAGES)
LeBron James collected his second regular season most valuable player trophy in 2010, becoming the 10th player in NBA history to claim back-to-back MVPs. However, the key words there are REGULAR and SEASON. Legends are born in the playoffs, and James knows that in order to wear the crown of the king he must be fitted with a championship ring.
Since 1956 when the first NBA MVP award was handed out, two players who won the MVP award finished their pro careers without winning a championship and four are still in pursuit of that elusive chip. LeBron is currently a member of this dubious ringless fraternity.
Here are the six NBA players with regular-season MVPs, but don’t own a championship ring:
Charles Barkley (MVP in 1993) Sir Charles captured the MVP during the 1992-93 season and led the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals that season. But Barkley’s Suns ended up losing to Michael Jordan’s Bulls in the ’93 Finals, and Barkley never got back to The Finals. Barkley finished his career with 23,000 points and 12,000 rebounds. He has said that not winning a NBA title shouldn’t define his career, but you know deep down Sir Charles would give up all those points and rebounds for one ring.
Karl Malone (MVP in 1997 and 1999) With the help of his good friend John Stockton, The Mailman delivered two MVPs to the Utah Jazz. Unfortunately, Stockton and Malone couldn’t deliver a title to Utah. Malone led the Jazz to appearances in the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998, but both times his teams lost to Jordan’s Bulls. Then, in 2004, Malone joined Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal with the L.A. Lakers hoping to make one final push for a ring. But Malone fell short again in The Finals, losing to the Detroit Pistons in five games. Malone finished his career as the second-leading scorer in history (36,928), and will go down in history as one of the greatest power forwards to ever play.
Allen Iverson (MVP in 2001) When we’re talking about Iverson, we’re talking about the best little man in basketball. AI answered the call several times throughout his 13-year career, putting together a MVP season in 2001 and leading the Sixers to the NBA Finals. But Iverson ran into Goliath in the form of Shaq and the Lakers, and the Sixers were defeated in five games. After stints in Detroit, Denver and Memphis (extremely short stint there), Iverson rejoined the Sixers but did not finish the season. He took his talents to Turkey, but now he’s itching to get back in the NBA. In a recent interview with SLAM Magazine, Iverson said: “I want to finish my career out in the NBA, if that’s possible.”
Steve Nash (MVP in 2005 and 2006) Nash is the only two-time MVP winner not to reach The Finals. He captured his first regular season MVP in 2005, leading the Suns to the NBA’s best record, but the San Antonio Spurs bounced Nash and the Suns in the Western Conference finals. Then, in 2006, Nash won his second MVP but was eliminated by the Dallas Mavericks led by his good friend Dirk Nowitzki, who removed himself from the ringless fraternity in 2011. Voters made a huge mistake by giving Nash the MVP in 2006. Nash didn’t deserve to win it over Kobe Bryant, who had one of the best statistical seasons that year and should have won MVP.
Derrick Rose (MVP in 2011) It’s almost unfair to put Rose on this list because he’s only 22 years old. But, the fact of the matter is, D-Rose has an MVP trophy sitting at his home but doesn’t own an championship ring nor has he set foot in the NBA Finals. The Chicago Bulls have a very nice nucleus and Rose is only going to get better. Also, head coach Tom Thibodeau is one of best defensive minds in the game, so the Bulls will always be competitive.
LeBron James (MVP in 2009 and 2010) LeBron is one of four players on this list who can still change their fate. The very reason why LeBron left Cleveland for Miami is because he believed he had a better shot at winning a title if he was surrounded with better players, and they don’t come any better than Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. But the storybook ending didn’t happen in 2011, as Nowitzki and the Mavericks outlasted James and the Heat in the six games and now LeBron will have to hear those echoes of doubt all over again in the offseason. And it probably will never go away until he wins that elusive championship ring. LeBron certainly didn’t help his cause by playing so poorly in 2011 Finals, especially in the fourth quarter in which he looked incredibly passive. The longer James goes without a title, the pressure will only get worse.
